Tips On Fishing Deep Water During Midday

[MikeOGNR]

Hi guys im wondering how someone fishes deep water during midday i usually fish shoreline cover during the morning and dusk but during the day fish arent usually holding up there so from what ive heard is the bass go deep but i have no clue where to start i do have a fish finder which I know will make it easier just any general tips on fishing deep water and where the fish might be during the midday will help thanks

[WRB]

Fish main lake major points to start with. A major point is the longest point that intersects the lakes original river, stream or creek. Just look at a lake topographic map. If that doesn't help, then go up to the dam and fish the points in that area or points at the mouth of any larger bay. These are the easiest to locate and to stay near visually while you fish. Start shallow and fish deeper until you catch bass or meter them on your sonar. I would fish down to about 25 to feet to start with. Drop shot or C-rig and drag the sides of the point using a 6" curl tail worm any color you have confidence using.

After you have the deeper water figured out, then look for humps that top out under water around the depth you caught bass on the points. Also islands create points and some have saddles joining a nearby island or the bank; fish those areas.

Tom

[Highhawk1948]

Great advise from WRB. I look for spawning areas then go to the points closest to them and start. I will sometimes use a 4 inch slider worm or a 1/8 or 3/16 oz. mojo rig with a 4 inch or 6 inch BlackGrape or Watermelon Red Producto worm, (best high floating worm I know) on it. Like the 1/4 oz. dropshot too. Good luck. Points, Point to Bass!

[MikeOGNR]

so points as in if theres a piece of land that juts out from the shoreline like rather than just being straight go over it with the finder and look for drop offs?? kinda thing or am i getting the wrong idea

[gobig]

This should help.

[MikeOGNR]

That was very informative so by looking at the maps what I got from it was basically the bunched up lines mean a steeper drop off and when theres more or less space in between them thats more open or gradually changing depth so what i should look for is places where depths are changing from shallow to deep realtively fast like a 5 -15 foot steep kinda thing and look for baitfish on those points because thats where theyll be?? is that what that video is implying

[WRB]

Good advice HighHawk. Roboworms are another good soft high flotation worm and both the ox blood/red flake and MMII are good summer colors for most lakes. The points near spawning areas are usually secondary points inside creek arms or more sheltered areas; good location for post spawn bass and some hold over spawner's that haven't transitioned to deeper areas.

Tom

[WRB]

Go big good advice for deep structured highland reservoir like San V. NLMB may not take advantage of pelagic bait fish like thread fin and trout on off shore structure.

Thread fin will seek cover at night; trees, brush, docks and move out to deeper water as the sun floats phytoplankton the shad feed on. All types of bass will follow and feed on thread fin, however only near structure elements...FLMB don't seem to be structure defendant as NLMB.

The map posted is good for this discussion, however a 5' elevation map looses a lot of detail, try to find 1' or 2' elevations if possible.

Tom

PS; San V dam is being raised 90', most of structure elements shown will be under water in a few years when the lake opens.

[deep]

NLMB may not take advantage of pelagic bait fish like thread fin and trout on off shore structure.

FLMB don't seem to be structure defendant as NLMB.

WRB, could you elaborate a bit on these? It's always useful to learn things about florida-strains although I don't run into them usually.

[clayton86]

That was very informative so by looking at the maps what I got from it was basically the bunched up lines mean a steeper drop off and when theres more or less space in between them thats more open or gradually changing depth so what i should look for is places where depths are changing from shallow to deep realtively fast like a 5 -15 foot steep kinda thing and look for baitfish on those points because thats where theyll be?? is that what that video is implying

Most maps have a contour interval labeled on it some where if the interval is 1,2,5,10,25 what ever it may be is the change in elevation from one line to the next so if you have 10 lines really bunched up on a map that's has a interval of 5 that's really steep. Some will have one line labeled 30 the next will be labeled 60 basically telling you its a straight drop off. Some maps will have hash marks on the lines to to show a depression like a hole it would look similar to a bulls eye with hash marks going towards the center. Just rings would be a hill or hump in the lake that usually attracts bait fish. A point Would look like a spike on a heart monitor several of them following each other would be a point.

[HookSetDon]

that video was great

[WRB]

WRB, could you elaborate a bit on these? It's always useful to learn things about florida-strains although I don't run into them usually.

I will try using my phone. Northern LMB are wired to be cover oriented and look for prey that is dermasil living near or in cover. When a reservoir has pelagic bait fish, non native to NLMB, the bass must develop techniques to prey on open water palegic bait fish. Thread fin shad are palegic baitfish that use cover during darkness to hide, where the bass are looking for dermasil prey; perfect storm for the bass during low light periods.

Thread fin being small also fit NLMB prey size preference and the bass adapt easily to following the shad out to deep water areas, however prefer feeding when the shad schools are near shallower structure.

FLMB are wired to feed on larger bait fish like golden shiners, that are also dermasil prey that stay close to cover. When the FLMB transplanted into deep structured lakes with little cover, they also adapt to feeding on shad and will target the smaller rainbow trout that are pelagic and feed on the same shad schools. FLMB wired for larger bait fish adapt to preying on pelagic trout and pelagic shad in open water,and don't seem to need shallow structure to feed on bait fish schools.

Tom

[MikeOGNR]

Another question for all of you when should i start fishing deeper water time wise because i usually fish the shallows all day but i only have luck during the morning and night so i figured like during the day there on those points but what time abouts??

[deep]

...

Tom

Thank you WRB, that was far more detailed than I hoped for. If you don't mind me picking your brains a little more, I'm sending you a PM.

[mikeeasttn]

Great Video. Thanks.